Boarding passes and check-ins could be scrapped in travel shake-up(theguardian.com)
theguardian.com
Boarding passes and check-ins could be scrapped in travel shake-up
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/11/boarding-passes-and-check-in-to-be-scrapped-in-air-travel-shake-up-plans
23 comments
People love the sales pitch of "eliminate paper things" for some reason. It's the future, how could we possibly need dead trees anymore when everything is SCREEN?
I prefer paper travel documents because I know there's no chance they'll break down from a dead battery/no signal/cracked screen.
I prefer paper travel documents because I know there's no chance they'll break down from a dead battery/no signal/cracked screen.
The sort of people that like tracking the movements of everyone but also have no idea how reality actually works.
I really don't think this is a good idea. There's already enough digitisation with physical back up in this situation. I think this is a case of not fixing something that isn't broken.
This is also quite scary.
> airlines will instead be alerted when passengers arrive at the airport and their face is scanned.
This is also quite scary.
> airlines will instead be alerted when passengers arrive at the airport and their face is scanned.
So, what happens if your phone dies between check in and the boarding gate?
The body cannot live without the phone.
But I don’t -want- my face scanned constantly
Tell your congressperson. I literally can't think of other ideas.
Hah, as a programmer, thanks but no thanks.
And if your phone gets lost or stolen in the middle of your international journey...
Or just runs out of batteries and you don't have a charging cable. Maybe you could ask a stranger for help, but you're in a country where most people don't speak your language. Or maybe people do speak your language, but you have a phone with a charging port that isn't standard in the country you're in. Also, you're about to miss your flight.
I think we can all agree that edge cases will always exist. The question is does this system make those cases better or worse. What's the backup in case the first-line system fails? You go talk to the airline agents and get a paper boarding pass printed?
The facial recognition system I'm much more wary of. Will it recognize you if you are coming back home with a black eye (happened to me one time)? Could your doppelganger cause confusion with the check-in system? Is this system significantly more convenient for the traveler that it's worth putting your biometric data into a database that could potentially be appropriated for other purposes?
I think we can all agree that edge cases will always exist. The question is does this system make those cases better or worse. What's the backup in case the first-line system fails? You go talk to the airline agents and get a paper boarding pass printed?
The facial recognition system I'm much more wary of. Will it recognize you if you are coming back home with a black eye (happened to me one time)? Could your doppelganger cause confusion with the check-in system? Is this system significantly more convenient for the traveler that it's worth putting your biometric data into a database that could potentially be appropriated for other purposes?
The language used here ('obsolete') strongly hints at making this the primary case, with any secondary option deemed inferior. It wouldn't surprise me if using a paper boarding pass will just flag you in the system for extra checks.
> Could your doppelganger cause confusion with the check-in system?
That's the scary one.
> Could your doppelganger cause confusion with the check-in system?
That's the scary one.
I’m a Global Entry member. I am already in all the databases ever, because I’m a doctor, so I just said f it and signed up. The facial recognition systems used by the US government- - if they get a well-posed picture of you (presumably with a lot of 3D detail) - are absolutely fantastic. I don’t even pull my passport out when returning to the US. I get a picture taken at a kiosk, I walk up to the line on the floor, and the agent says “you’re good, Devilbunny”. That’s it.
Or if you don't have a smartphone. Seriously, are we making owning one of these (even more) mandatory now?
If someone is travelling with someone with a severe disability, or children, do they need to include them on their smartphone? What about people who just don't want one? Or can't use one? People with a dumbphone?
Or will there be a way to travel with a boarding pass, the price for which is being submitted to extra checks and longer lines, because if it isn't made extra inconvenient more people would do that?
If someone is travelling with someone with a severe disability, or children, do they need to include them on their smartphone? What about people who just don't want one? Or can't use one? People with a dumbphone?
Or will there be a way to travel with a boarding pass, the price for which is being submitted to extra checks and longer lines, because if it isn't made extra inconvenient more people would do that?
> if your phone gets lost or stolen in the middle of your international journey
Presumably your face still works. And if both fail, you do what one does when you lose your boarding pass: talk to the gate agent.
Presumably your face still works. And if both fail, you do what one does when you lose your boarding pass: talk to the gate agent.
Hopefully you don't have any allergic reations, wear bandages, grow beards, experience weight changes, etc.
> Hopefully you don't have any allergic reations, wear bandages, grow beards, experience weight changes, etc.
Digital ID has no issues with me having or not having on glasses, growing and losing a beard or having had one eye patched. When it has, a person can make a subjective call. Like, people lose boarding passes all the time. The status quo is faulty and expensive.
Digital ID has no issues with me having or not having on glasses, growing and losing a beard or having had one eye patched. When it has, a person can make a subjective call. Like, people lose boarding passes all the time. The status quo is faulty and expensive.
Doesn't the same concern apply to your passport?
Passports don't spontaneously break if they're dropped in water or left in a hot car for hours.
Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43656433
(“Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter” [1].)
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
(“Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter” [1].)
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
What I didn’t see in the article was anything about the motivation for this change. Why undertake such an expensive revision to boarding systems? Who is benefiting?